Promotion

Planet of the Apes prequel turns to CGI

I'm still not convinced about a Planet of the Apes prequel, especially one which rewrites the entire Planet of the Apes story-line we've seen to date, apart from the Tim Burton adaptation of the original novel of course, and now I'm even more wary, for instead of the previous actors in costume, we're set to see the CGI version.

If anything this film looks set to prequel the Planet of the Apes film from Burton rather than the original series, as it ignores the original set-up from the franchise and creates it's own, and with masked actors pulling off the performances perfectly well in the last film, why do we need one with computer generated, photo realistic apes for other actors to imagine are there?

Well everyone else is doing it. Frankly I'm not surprised that this announcement isn't revealing that the film will be in 3D. Oh wait, they'll probably film it in 2D specially making sure there's added depth in every frame, and then convert it to 3D using software and offshore companies.

The L.A. Times Hero Complex tells us that this film is an origins story of The Planet of the Apes, although not the franchise we all know, and confirms the idea we've heard many times before when this prequel has been mentioned, it's about the genetic manipulation of apes to become something more, which heighten their intelligence to that of humans. Or is that lower?

The key point in the story is the following:

”Weta will render, for the first time ever in the film series, photo-realistic apes rather than costumed actors.”

Great. The original four films did a great job of setting up the world and where humans were, and it was there that we discovered the real reason for the intelligent apes was the same time paradox that brought the astronauts to the other time in the first place, something that fitted perfectly with the whole franchise.

The idea at the end of the original franchise is one that is superbly respectful to the original story and how the astronauts arrived there, and uses the whole time paradox issue again. It's a perfect, if somewhat frustrating ending. It works far better than the tired genetic engineering one, and is the origin story.

Mind you that's not the biggest crime really is it? It's the removal of real actors in masks and make-up and the arrival of the complete CG photo-realistic apes.